NXT Results and Recap: The Dusty Rhodes Classic Fades To Black

With NXT TakeOver: New York happening in a little over a week, Full Sail is packed with performers looking to build some momentum before the big show. Adam Cole and Johnny Gargano—set to do battle for the vacant NXT Championship—are trying to get in each other’s heads, while Matt Riddle looks to continue his winning streak in NXT by squaring off against Kona Reeves, all before he goes toe-to-toe with Velveteen Dream for the North American Championship at TakeOver. On top of all that, the finals of the Dusty Rhodes Classic have to be decided, sending either The Forgotten Sons or Aleister Black and Ricochet to New York for a date with the NXT Tag Team Champions, the War Raiders.

The night kicks off with Adam Cole, fresh off his victory in a Fatal 5-Way that earned him a title shot at TakeOver, going face-to-face with his opponent Johnny Gargano in the ring. The NXT Championship rests on its pedestal, an icon worthy of worship, as Cole comes to the ring first and, before diving into why he’s going to win that title, calls Gargano to the ring. The Full Sail crowd is split between cheering for both men, the chants seemingly refusing to stop until Adam Cole insists that he doesn’t need fan support to win the NXT Championship.

Cole says he has “a million reasons why” he’s going to beat Gargano, a bit of confidence that “Johnny Wrestling” jumps all over. Gargano has been laser-focused on that title for a long time, and he sees Cole’s sudden involvement at TakeOver as a simple speed bump on this long road. Cole responds by pointing out that Gargano has a bit of a losing record, calling him “Johnny Participation” before running down his own accomplishments at TakeOver and at the Barclays Center.

Gargano’s heard enough. He’s sick of hearing about how Adam Cole was handed opportunities in NXT, and so he runs down his own history. It’s a history that involves being turned down at WWE tryouts, constantly being told that he’s too small to compete in WWE, and a miracle run in the Dusty Rhodes Classic with an unknown partner by the name of Tommaso Ciampa that helped make his name. “I wasn’t handed a top spot and a group of cronies to fight my battles,” he says, and that’s what this is all about. Gargano has been scratching and clawing for this moment for years, and he sees this as his time. He just might be the next NXT Champion. Then again, Cole derides that history as nothing but a “Lifetime movie” before showing off the Undisputed Era members that could help him snag that title in the Two Out of Three Falls match, so perhaps Cole is on his way to the top.

Next up, it’s women’s tag team action, as the rising force of Vanessa Borne and Aliyah take on Kacy Catanzaro and Lacey Lane. Lane comes out, in her NXT TV debut—looking like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat—while Catanzaro has already won over our hearts after an impressive turn in the Women’s Royal Rumble earlier this year. Aliyah and Borne are aggressive off the bat, making quick tags and keeping Lane on the mat with well-timed takedowns. That is, until Lane shows off some true athleticism, taking down Borne off an impressive top-rope move.

Borne and Aliyah get right back to using dirty tactics though, keeping Lane in their corner while they pull her hair and pummel her with kicks and forearms. It’s a good look for Borne and Aliyah, but they don’t get a chance to keep showing their tag team skills, because NXT Women’s Champion Shayna Baszler, flanked by Marina Shafir and Jessamyn Duke, once again come down to interrupt a women’s match and lay a beating on the performers involved. Catanzaro gets in a touch of offense, but she still ends up choked out by Baszler in the middle of the ring. It’s yet another statement from the champion, and a major one before her massive title defense in a Fatal 4-Way match at TakeOver.

Baszler isn’t the only one looking to make a statement. Matt Riddle wants to make one of his own before his title shot at TakeOver, as he takes on Kona Reeves, a man who, to say the least, has struggled to get a win in NXT so far. Reeves, despite all those losses, comes out taunting the “Original Bro,” slapping him in the face and taking early control after a cheap punch to the head while tangled up in the ropes. Riddle is just starting to fight back when Velveteen Dream’s music hits, and the North American Champion, sprawled out on a couch, is rolled out to the stage by two women. That distraction allows Reeves to get a near fall, but that’s as close as he gets. Riddle hits him with a few open palm strikes, and then a devastating ripcord knee strike. Then it’s on to his signature elbow strikes and the Bromission, which forces Reeves to tap. Dream is impressed in his own way, raising his chalice to “Matthew Riddle,” a chalice that Riddle takes a drink out of in an attempt to get inside Dream’s head before TakeOver.

That brings us to our main event, and the conclusion of the Dusty Rhodes Classic, as The Forgotten Sons square off against Aleister Black and Ricochet to determine who will challenge War Raiders for the NXT Championships in New York. All four men scrap in the ring to start, and that gives Black and Ricochet the upper hand. They stand tall in the ring while the Sons recuperate on the outside. When they get back in the ring, Ricochet and Black dodge their offense, throw them back to the outside, which allows Ricochet to pull off his usual acrobatics and lay out the entire team of the Forgotten Sons.

Then, Ricochet goes to work on Cutler, hitting him with chops and forearms. When Blake jumps in the ring to help, Ricochet fights them both off, his offense only stalled by a sudden attack from Ryker that goes unseen by the ref. That gives the Sons the advantage they need. They beat down Ricochet, never allowing him near Black. They cut the ring in half, and that’s bad news for the “One and Only.”

You can only keep Ricochet down for so long though, and the man buys himself some time by hitting Cutler with a rolling double dropkick. That gives him room to tag Black, but Blake pulls Black off the apron before the tag can be made. Eventually, Ricochet gets there, flying over both men to make the tag. The “Dutch Destroyer” gets in the ring and he won’t be stopped. He hits Blake and Cutler with a flurry of strikes, sending Blake to the outside and isolating Cutler. When the Sons fight back and go for a double team to end it, the match hits a whole other gear. Ricochet and Black fend off the double team when Ricochet hits an incredible headscissors off the top rope, and Black nails Cutler with springboard knees to the chest.

In the middle of the ring, Ricochet and Blake trade attempts at a suplex, with Ricochet eventually coming out on top. He heads to the top rope but is unable to connect with the Phoenix Splash. Blake tries to hit a reverse Frankensteiner, but Ricochet lands on his feet. That spells the end for the Sons. Ricochet breaks up a pin attempt from Cutler on Black, and then the ref notices Ryker interfering with Black’s leg on the rope during a pin, sending the third member of the Sons to the back.

With no more numbers game to compete with, Black hits Cutler with the Black Mass, and Ricochet finishes him off with the 630. That means that Black and Ricochet, already making their mark on RAW and SmackDown LIVE, are on their way to New York to challenge for the NXT Tag Team Championships. Could they walk out of WrestleMania weekend with not only the NXT titles but something more? With only 11 days until WrestleMania, it won’t be long until we find out.

You can watch this week’s NXT on the WWE Network.

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